The mystery surrounded a missing book. The book was not to be removed from the library at any time. This was not the first time he had given this assignment for this particular course, but it was the first time the rare book had simply disappeared.

People order the world in different ways. We are shaped by the experiences we have amassed in the settings that have defined our personal and group identity. It’s not so much a matter of what we value. Often we value many of the same things.

As I listened she expressed a bit of concern about the two questions her daughter is constantly asked, “What are you going to major in?” followed by “What career are you going to pursue?” My reply to her comment took her by surprise. I said, “Don’t worry about these answers now. High school students almost always get them wrong.”

The Christmas season began for me each year when the Sears catalog arrived. It had a curious title, “The Wish Book.” First published in 1933, the Wish Book was the source document for many childhood Christmas lists.

Paul Salopek is a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and National Geographic Fellow, who has spent much of his career exploring the world and writing stories about the human experience. In 2013 he will begin a significant journey. Carrying only a backpack, with no entourage to support him, he will literally walk around the world. The trip…

It’s been a long time since I have eaten a Twinkie. It’s not that I am particularly disciplined about sweets. I have celiac disease, which means I am among the growing population of citizens who have discovered they are gluten intolerant. No wheat. Not now. Not ever. It’s not been easy, but I’ve had to…